Ability Upgrades, A Way To Escape
Chapter 29
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"Hmm…?" Confusion crept up Astaroth's unnerving facial features as he asked, "What's the new skill Lvl things all about? Did I automatically get those upgraded after devouring the Bell Spiders?"
The question was rhetorical, but it was still reassuring to hear the system say:
[Ding! Yes, that is correct! Along with the energy of devoured organisms also comes everything that it was, which includes higher level abilities!
And even if the opposing organism doesn't have a higher-level ability, if the host absorbs enough lower-level ones, they then have the potential to level up by themselves.
P.S. The system will begin showing system notifications for the level ups of most used and best performing abilities.]
"Ahh… That is something new… I'll take it. Thanks very much, system," Astaroth said gratefully.
[Ding! It is the system's pleasure to assist the host in his path to attaining Infinite Evolution and Infinite acquisition of Energy!]
The conversation between the two ended with that, and then it was time to devise a way to escape the two battling titans above.
Even though they were only Lvl 3 of their individual races, that was still more than enough to evenly take on a Lvl 6 Bell Spider.
Considering that the Bell Spiders were weaker in every way when compared to the two superior races, a palpable difference like this was not too surprising.
"If a Lvl 7 or above Bell Spider intervened in their battle, then I might be able to slip out of the chaos, but such a scenario is highly unlikely," Astaroth said with a soft sigh.
In the chain of evolution, there were indeed levels, but more than anything, they were just there to differentiate the rare and special from the common.
Anything could evolve after eating other organisms, but after a certain point, the body would automatically evolve the race of the creature. In other words, finding a Bell Spider past Lvl 5 might as well have been impossible…
It was like suddenly finding a tiny garden snake species the size of a full-grown python!
Now, what exactly happened after an organism reached a point where it was forced to undergo a race change after reaching its 'racial limit'?
Well, in the subconscious part of that organism's mind, it would receive potential evolutionary paths based on its talent, prospects, and luck. It would then be asked to choose one of the evolution paths to continue advancing down.
No organism actually knew of the existence of these choice mechanisms, as they would forget ever being transported to their subconscious. And they would also forget everything that went down during the choice selection process.
It was unknown if this was the work of mother nature or the whimsical will of some all-powerful God, but there had never been any exceptions, and there would never be any in the future.
All organisms would continue to believe that the racial path they evolved into was completely random and coincidental…
Even the highly intelligent magical beasts believed their evolutions to be testamounts to their own willpower and drive to strive…
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"Well, what should I do now?" Peeking out the top of the cavern, Astaroth saw that a few more behemoths had decided to join in the fray.
"The original Lvl 3 Wolf Water Spider and Lvl 3 Jawless Fish are now dead, and in their place are dozens more equally powerful sea creatures," he said calmly. "They were probably attracted by the blood and battle of the first two fighters. As a result of this gathering of titans, all my paths of escape have been barred off…"
Astaroth blankly analyzed all directions, and in every direction, there were giant fish or crabs and other monster critters tearing each other apart.
In the end, he heaved a sigh and simply waited for a chunk of meat to drift his way…
After a few seconds of waiting, a massive Lvl 5 black-tagged Goliath Fish accidentally tail swiped the abdomen remnants from the Lvl 3 Water Wolf Spider. It was caught up in a deadly fight with a Lvl 5 River Eel, so it hadn't even noticed that it did this tail swipe.
Though a negligible amount of nutrients for the Lvl 5 Goliath Fish, for Astaroth, it was enough to worm him out of his stalemate!
Speaking of worms…
Rustle. Rustle.
Fwooom!
From the sandy ground shot up the head of a sandy worm with countless, jagged teeth!
It gobbled up the abdomen of the Water Wolf Spider and then instantly retreated back into the sand below.
"...Seriously?" Astaroth muttered.
Just like that, his opportunity was whisked away!
Now, he had no choice but to wait here and just hope the storm passes over sooner rather than later…
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